CalARVC: Plumbing Rules Loom in Calif.

All California RV park and campground buildings built before 1994 will have to have low-flow toilets and water fixtures installed by 2019, the California Association of RV Parks & Campgrounds (CalARVC) recently learned.

“The CalARVC office was notified last week by Housing and Community Development (HCD) that RV parks will have to comply by 2019,” the organization said in its weekly newsletter Wednesday (Dec. 18).

CalARVC pointed to a story by the Sacramento Bee, which said, in part:

The upcoming rule is the the latest government attempt to improve water conservation. Since the 1990s, new homes have had to include various water-saving features. Over subsequent years, the legislature has approved laws setting low-flow standards for toilets, faucets and other products.

Largely untouched, though, are aging, water-guzzling fixtures in many of the more than 11 million single-family houses and apartment buildings around California built in 1994 or earlier – roughly 80% of the state’s housing stock, according to U.S. census estimates. The state’s population continues to grow, and experts say climate change will reduce the Sierra snowpack that is the foundation of the state’s water supply.

State Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Pacoima, introduced Senate Bill 407 to address the issue. Modeled on ordinances in San Francisco and other cities, it created several triggers to require the installation of low-flow fixtures in homes, apartments and commercial buildings built before 1994: home improvements starting in 2014; all homes in 2017; and commercial and apartment buildings in 2019.

Padilla’s bill cleared the legislature on the final day of the 2009 session after initially falling several votes short. Almost every Democrat backed the bill, which was opposed by almost every Republican.